The gluttony of Christmas and the hangover of New Year’s eve are behind you, you’re bright-eyed at your desk and determined to finally realise your goal of learning the piano this year. But however heartfelt your resolutions on January 1, the evidence suggests they’re doomed to fail.

Resolutions usually peter out by mid February if they truly begin at all, and psychologist Dr Nerina Ramlakhan, from Nightingale Hospital, says it’s because people are making the wrong resolutions.

“They don’t ask the right questions – rather than thinking about what they want to do differently, they need to think about why,” she says.